Links of the Day, October 20

Love xkcd.


News

• Hamid Karzai agrees to a November 7 election run-off.
• Apparently, the Department of Defense is also against Al Franken’s anti-rape amendment … what?!

Green

• Toyota unveils a larger hybrid, the "Sai."

Sports

• Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima opts out of his contract to head back to Japan. We’ll miss you, Joh!

Miscellaneous

• Andrew Sullivan assesses Barack’s seemingly-sluggish pragmatism, and concludes it’s all part of the plan.
• Tracking marriage and divorce across America.
• 3pm on Tuesday is the optimum time for an office meeting.

Links of the Day, October 9

Here’s another pic of Barack and Savita (from the White House Photostream):

So freaking cute!

News

• Barack Obama becomes only the third sitting president (and the first since Woodrow Wilson in 1919) to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Here’s his statement in response. And here are some reactions. And the BBC’s coverage. More of my own thoughts on this to come.
• "Rich guy dislikes poor people." This is pretty sickening.
• Al Franken (D-MN), who’s fast becoming one of my favorite senators, wins bipartisan support for legislation reining in KBR/Halliburton’s treatment of rape.
• The US trade deficit shrinks in August.

Miscellaneous

• Study: tall men have more attractive partners … which means what for me, exactly?
• Violence against women is not being sufficiently addressed in the UK (and probably anywhere, for that matter).